Mrs M and I spent the latter half of the morning and early afternoon at Compton Verney in Warwickshire visiting the Magnum Manifesto exhibition. The famous collective is 70 years old and the exhibition charts its aims, ideas and ideals., The exhibition features group and individual projects and includes over two hundred prints, many books, … Continue reading Magnum Manifesto Exhibition
For the last three or four months I have been going through all of the processed and finished monochrome images in my Lightroom catalogue and have started to print them to A4 size. My intention is to print the photographs and keep them in archive boxes labelled for each year or collections of years. To … Continue reading Re-working and printing
A few weeks ago, I posted that I entered some images into the Fujiholics Photographer of the Year Competition and that I had one image shortlisted in the Black and White Photographer of the Year section. Well, the judging for that was announced at the Hull International Photography Festival (HIPFest) on Saturday and I am … Continue reading Fujiholics Photographer of the Year
Photograph: A MINIMALIST LANDSCAPE Brief: Your project this month is to shoot a landscape image that has been stripped back to the bare bones, keeping your composition as simple as possible. Complex compositions with many elements all fighting for your attention can often make a shot unsuccessful, as the eye doesn’t have anywhere to … Continue reading Photo Project
I’m just back from three days in South Wales on a photographic holiday staying in Brecon. It was three days of rain showers and then warm sunshine but luckily all the really nasty, heavy, wet stuff came down during the night. After exploring the town of Brecon on Tuesday it was the turn of the … Continue reading Rain, sunshine and waterfalls
Fuji will officially announce the X-Pro3 on October 23, and already, despite the lack of confirmed technical details, it has polarised opinion amongst the Fuji X-Pro fanbase. The fixed LCD screen on the back of the camera has gone and instead, it has an LCD that faces the body of the camera by default and … Continue reading Fujifilm XPro-3
I’ve just heard that I have a photograph that has been shortlisted in the Fujiholics Photographer of the Year competition for the Black and White category. I’m not expecting to be placed, there are so many brilliant photographs that have been entered but I’m just really pleased to get this far. This is the image … Continue reading Fujiholics Photographer of the Year competition
I had a fantastic surprise today when I opened the autumn 2019 edition of Black+White Photography magazine. They had put fourteen of my ARPS panel images across 5 pages in their “Salon” monthly article. I had sent the images to the magazine after my ARPS assessment and had then had forgotten about it. I have … Continue reading Black+White Photography Magazine Salon images
Please read this absolutely brilliant post by Fujiholics supremo, Matthew Hart from his LightTraveller blog, entitled, “So you think you are a photographer! There are so many good points that Matthew makes in this entertaining but gritty piece that, in my humble opinion, are bang on the button. So, if you think you are a … Continue reading Matthew Hart on photography
This project is a little more involved than the previous ones, in that you have more topics to choose from and it asks you to produce a documentary-style selection of four photographs. Photograph: The Built Environment From sleek commercial districts to out of town shopping areas and forlorn precincts that have seen better days the … Continue reading Photo Project
A couple of weeks ago when I was looking through the images that I had just taken on my X-pro2, I noticed that I had some spots on the sensor. I used a rocket blower to see if they were just dust, but they weren’t. Those of you who have been reading this blog for … Continue reading Out damn spot! Out!
I’ve always loved monochrome photography. From the time I was at university developing and printing my own films in the cavernous dark rooms under the building up to now with digital cameras and processing. Of course, I have always done some colour images. In the eighties, it was transparencies with Fujichrome, but even then I … Continue reading Monochrome or bust
As a member of the Royal Photographic Society, I have already been awarded the Licentiate distinction for a panel of 10 images that I submitted in 2016. Since then I had been working towards the Associate award of the society. For this, fifteen images had to be produced within a cohesive piece of work and … Continue reading Associate of the Royal Photographic Society
Photograph: FOUND STILL LIFE You are to find a still life composition whereby all the components are already placed in position. A found still-life can be made of anything. It may be a room, it can be a single object small or large, it can be made of many small or large objects. You … Continue reading Photo Project
Photograph: Architecture Unlike most specialised areas of photography, there are few tricks or special equipment required for shooting architecture – only careful planning and an open mind. Your shooting position, the time of day, the colour and direction of light all have a profound result on the final image and it pays to shoot from … Continue reading Photo Project
In 1955 Robert Frank started a year-long journey across the USA with the intention of photographing America. He ended up taking 27,000 photographs which he would eventually edit down to 83 images that would fill his monograph, “The Americans”. Surprisingly the volume was published in France first in 1958 and then in the U.S. in … Continue reading The Americans by Robert Frank
Photograph: A flower or flowers Brief: Your project this month is to take a photograph of a flower or flowers. Whilst the weather should be getting warmer this image is to be taken indoors. You should take advantage of the wonderful soft light that windows can give an image. One way of doing this … Continue reading Photo Project
Photograph: FENCE / FENCES Brief: Sometimes fences are wrought iron, sometimes they’re wooden, and sometimes they’re barbed wire. For this project, take two photographs of two different types of fence and show in each case what purpose this fence is serving – what is it partitioning off from the surrounding area? When you are … Continue reading Photo Project
Not being one, I have always admired talented street photographers. Their tenacity, skill and endurance to trudge through the streets to get those brilliant images that enthral, inspire and delight us never ceases to amaze me. One of the best is Nick Turpin, the founder of iN-PUBLiC the street photography collective and an exhibited photographer … Continue reading From a photographer’s point of view
I have added some new photographs into the “Recent” section of my website. “Recent” is a bit of a misnomer really as the images were actually taken in 2018. I’m still ploughing through last years images and the process has taken a bit of a back seat recently as I work on my Royal Photographic … Continue reading CM Photo Website Update
Photograph: FADED BEAUTY Brief Many photographers have been drawn to record the processes of decay, decline and deterioration. For this project explore the idea of recording change, creating photographs that capture things at specific moments in their continuing physical journey. Locations suitable: historic cemeteries, crumbling houses, castles and estates. choose a place which gives you … Continue reading Photo Projects
Photograph: PATTERNS Brief: The world is full of patterns and we photographers are drawn to them, our eyes are predisposed to recognizing them. For this project, take photographs to produce two images based on patterns. The first image is to show a successful pattern, the second is to show a pattern that has been disrupted … Continue reading Photo Projects
Having been alerted to their presence by a twitter post, I must admit to having been both amazed and informed by the Inside the Outside (ITO) photographic collective. They are part of a movement called conceptual landscape photography. Having found my way to their website and being astounded by the quality of work on it I must … Continue reading Inside the Outside – Conceptual Landscape Photography
Here is the second part of an explanation of Fuji colour film simulations and where you might use them. Pro Neg.STD This is a simulation for a colour negative film, NS160, which was mainly used for studio portraiture. The tonality of Pro Neg STD is very soft which enhances skin tones perfectly. Shadows are not … Continue reading Fujifilm Colour simulations explained – part 2
If you shoot with Fuji, then you would already know about the fantastic film simulations that come with the cameras. Shooting .jpg means that you can get a very good idea of what your final image will be like straight from the viewfinder. If you are a RAW user however although you can set the … Continue reading Fuji Colour Film Simulations explained – part 1
I have now finished the redesign of my website portfolio and it is now live. I have updated the logo on the site to CM Photo and added a splash page. It has once again been built using Adobe’s Portfolio platform. The navigation has been reconstructed to work with the new layout and I have … Continue reading New CM Photo Website Live
Just before New Year, I decided I would put up some photographic projects during 2019 for people to attempt if they wish. My idea was that each month I will place another assignment with a different subject to photograph. I should have placed the first project on ASV on the 1st January...but didn't. Anyway, here … Continue reading Photo Projects
So, here we are in 2019 and there’s a new year ahead in which to indulge our photography interests. From a personal point of view, this coming year is a year of clarification and reorganisation of where my time is going to be allocated in my photography work. Last year I felt a little under … Continue reading Into 2019
The December edition of the photozine has now been published and you can download it below for free.
I purchased my Fujifilm X-E3 in March of 2018. It was to replace the X-E2 which I sold. The reason for replacing the small X-E2 with the equally small 3 was to reduce the amount of camera equipment that I carried whilst on holiday with Mrs M. The X-E3 came with the Fujinon 23mm F/2 … Continue reading Fuji X-E3 and the Fujinon 18mm F/2
The November edition of the photozine has now been published and you can now download it for free using the link below.
I know what one of my Christmas presents is! I was asked what I wanted by Mrs M not thinking I would get it – but today it was delivered to work (Mrs M and I work for the same company). I wasn't allowed to see it (it is a Christmas present after all) but … Continue reading Happiness is (camera) bag shaped.
The October edition of the photozine has now been published and you can download it below for free.
One of the best things we can do in order to improve our photography is to step out of our safety zones and look at other photographers work. I don't mean just looking at landscape photographs by Charlie Waite if you like landscapes but look at the work of someone who takes photographs of subjects … Continue reading Engaging with the unfamiliar
The September edition of the photozine has now been published and you can download it below for free.
What happens to all those photographs that we have taken? How do we find those images that we took maybe a year or two years ago, to have another go at processing them? I never delete any photograph, good or bad, they can be found on my RAW file drive or on its backup. In … Continue reading Logical filing is important
If you use Peak Design’s excellent straps, then you also use their anchors. In June this year, they released version 4 of their anchors as a response to a few failures of their version 3 anchors. “Few” is the operative word here. According to their website, they had seven reports of their V3 anchors wearing … Continue reading Peak Design Anchor Update Kit
When you go out to take photographs you grab your camera bag and in it, you will have a camera body/bodies and a lens/lenses. Sure you may have a flash, filters electronic release etc, but you will have at least one camera body and one lens. So which lens do you carry with you? It … Continue reading Using Lightroom to determine your favourite focal length
The August edition of the photozine has now been published and you can download it below for free.
All these images were taken in the lovely mountain village of San Mauro Castleverde. The sun was just starting to set as we walked around the atmospheric town. The shadows were long and the mountain light bright and harsh although the narrow alleys and streets of the village were dark and cool. I used a Nikon … Continue reading Sicily 7
The photographs this week were taken on the slopes of Mount Etna during our trip to Sicily in 2016. We started the day in bright, warm sunshine but as we ascended the slopes of Etna the clouds dropped obscuring virtually everything for minutes at a time. I had to pick my opportunities to fire off … Continue reading Sicily 6
The weather for the time that Mrs M and I were in Sicily was sunny and hot. However, we did have a couple of thunderstorms, once early in the morning and another later in the evening. The different types of clouds and the play of light on them made for many fascinating pictures. The two … Continue reading Sicily 5
This week I am continuing with a summer series of images taken in Sicily during 2016. They were again taken with the X-E2 and the wonderful XF18-55mm zoom lens. I no longer have the X-E2 and I must say I miss it. The quality of the images that it could produce was amazing. It did … Continue reading Sicily 4
This is the third week where I am showing some of the images that I took in Sicily during the summer of 2016. I used my Fujifilm X-E2 and the Fujinon XF18-55mm F/2.8-4 R LM OIS lens throughout the trip. A MODERN VIEW ROOFTOPS AND ALLEYWAYS BALCONIES ON THE BRINK
The July edition of the photozine has now been published you can download it below.
Some more photographs taken during a trip to the glorious island of Sicily. The camera was the Fujifilm X-E2 and the lens was the Fujinon XF18-55mm F/2.8-4 R LM OIS. Wandering through the little streets and alleyways in the ancient town of Cefalu, you are always going to find a picture. They virtually throw themselves at … Continue reading Sicily 2
The series of images which I will show on the blog over the next few weeks were taken on the fantastic island of Sicily in the summer of 2016. Mrs M. and I were spending our summer holidays there and it was our first visit enjoying the history, people and, of course, the weather of … Continue reading Sicily 1
As photographers, we should always be looking for that shot but they say that familiarity breeds contempt. The first two shots below are examples of the fact that you can always find something new to photograph no matter how many times you have been to an area or place. HIDDEN Fujifilm X-E2, Fujinon XF18-55mm F/2.8-4 … Continue reading You have to see not just look
When I'm taking photographs, more often than not, the picture is going to end up as a black and white image. I normally have a good idea what I want it to look like when I take the picture and sometimes the scene even gives the title too at that stage All that is left … Continue reading Sometimes they’re just not good enough. Own it.
I never really used to like abstract artwork, in any medium. It just didn't connect with me. Or, if I was being honest I didn't understand it. But a few years ago I really started to read about it for a course I was taking and began to look in particular, at abstract monochrome photography … Continue reading Abstract and Bemusement
The next edition of the photozine is now available for free download.
More images from the Midland Air Museum again this week. Once again they are close-ups of the amazing aircraft at the museum, but this time in monochrome. I must admit I really enjoyed pulling out all the chipped paint and details on these images in post-processing. For the whole of the shoot, I used the … Continue reading Rivets and Chips
All three of these images were taken at the Midland Air Museum at Bagington, near Coventry, Although I'm not an aeroplane aficionado, there are some great shots to be found at air museums, of which there are several around the country. I was concentrating on getting in close to the aircraft and taking abstract and … Continue reading Faded Warriors
Time constraints and other everyday paraphernalia have been getting in my way over the last few weeks whenever I have tried to sit down and write this blog. With an (almost) full-time job and other commitments, it seems that A Sensored View must take a back seat for a while, or rather the written side … Continue reading Shadows and Doorways
I always find it a lot harder to decide on the tonal qualities that I want to see in a colour photograph than I do in a monochrome image. Because of that, I find that the ability to choose a colour profile as a starting point is very advantageous in Lightroom. Of course, other processing … Continue reading A profile can help
The fifth issue of A Sensored View is now available for free download.
Shadows can be a very important part of a photograph. They give a sense of weight and of depth to an image. This is particularly important in black and white photographs for, without the presence of colour, monochrome images rely on tonal values, texture and shapes to form a powerful image. The following images show … Continue reading Shadows in monochrome
Continuing on from last week’s post, I have another three photographs taken at the National Trust property Calke Abbey in Derbyshire. They were all taken once again with the X-T1 camera and 18-55mm F/2.8-4 zoom lens. FADED ELEGANCE Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon 18-55MM f2.8-4 R LM OIS This shot was obviously taken in the house itself … Continue reading Exploring the past
All of the photographs this week were shot at the National Trust property of Calke Abbey. It’s a favourite place of mine to get atmospheric shots of buildings, interiors and close-ups. The property was once the home of the reclusive, eccentric and private Harpur Crewe family, who kept Calke hidden away until the estate and … Continue reading Opening the past
Today I have two examples of flora photography and one shot of a pond that seems to have unfathomable depths. Each of the two flowers have been obviously treated differently: one in in colour, the other in monochrome. This gives two completely different visions of the plants with each one equally valid. EDGED IN PURPLE … Continue reading Flowers and a reflection
A Sensored View issue 4 is now available for free download.
This is the second part of the series of photographs I took at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire. Once again they were taken with a new Fuji X-T1 and a 55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS lens but this time they are all monochrome. Once again the lens coped unbelievably well considering I was shooting through dirty … Continue reading On Safari: Part 2
Let’s get one thing clear from the start, I am not a wildlife photographer. The photographers who do this photographic discipline have a particular form of dedication and skill which I have nothing but admiration for. However, over the next couple of weeks, I will be showing some of the photographs that I took whilst … Continue reading On Safari : Part 1
There are some more images taken at Batsford Arboretum in Gloucestershire this week. This time, however, I am showing four monochrome photographs. Although there are some beautiful colours to be found at arboretums all year round there are also marvellous tones, textures and shapes that can be emphasised with careful post-processing. MANY LIMBED Fujifilm X-T1 … Continue reading Monochrome Arboretum
I write the picture posts to this blog, using the images in the order that I took them. Currently, I am trawling through my photographs taken in 2016 and have now got to August of that year. My wife and I were on a trip to Batsford Arboretum in Gloucestershire on a (probably) rare sunny … Continue reading Verdancy
Issue 3 of the photozine 'A Sensored View', is now available for free download below.
The majority of my photographs end up as black and white. I also shoot RAW which means that I have the full information of the scene I took with the image file. This means that I can dodge and burn, enhance or reduce until I get the final image that I require. The initial step … Continue reading Looking through the colour
There are three more monochrome images this week. One is a close-up and the other two are somewhat unusual for me in that they are of people. They were taken on a warm Sunday at the National Trust property of Calke Abbey, and they show people at leisure, enjoying the scenery and the weather. EXPECTATION … Continue reading Enjoying the Weather
With all the bells and whistles that cameras have at this time, I suppose it’s easy to overlook something or not read the manual properly. I have been doing photography from the time I bought a brand new Olympus OM10 SLR. So I learnt how to use aperture priority first and then manual. Other cameras … Continue reading One third in….
These three images were part of a set that I took whilst Mrs M and I were on a short break down in Devon. Neither of us had been down there for a good many years. The last time was probably when our daughter who is now 27, was a toddler. I think the impression … Continue reading Land of the Dumnonii
It’s winter in the UK at the moment and this year there seems to be more bleak, grey days than I can remember we’ve had over the last few years. This bland, depressing time is sometimes spasmodically interspersed with days of eye-watering brightness, long shadows and a crisp coldness that quietly numbs the end of your … Continue reading Looking forward to winter’s end.
Download the free second issue of 'A Sensored View' photozine below.
When you think of your favourite (and successful) photographers I would like to bet that almost all (if not all of them) have their own “field of photography” for which they are known. It might be landscapes, portraits, street photography etc. Also when you see these photographers images you immediately know that they are their … Continue reading Genre and Style
We’re still in Northumberland this week with my photographs. I’m not going to apologise for it, it is a fantastic county and there is just so much to photograph there. The light and the weather change so often, that it is impossible to get bored or have photographer’s block whilst you are there. … Continue reading Fragments of Northumberland
More images this week from Northumbria, this time in and around the atmospheric 16th-century castle of Lindisfarne - and in colour! Built on Beblowe Crag on Holy Island the castle takes the battering of the storms that rage across the North Sea at times. I have been to Holy Island and the castle whilst the … Continue reading Bright New Morning
Continuing with my series of photographs that were taken in Northumberland, the first two pictures are coastline shots, taken during some very stormy weather, whilst the last is a photograph of one of the many iconic buildings that can be found in the county INCOMING SQUALL Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF18-55 F/2.54-4 R LM … Continue reading Clouds and a Castle
This is the first issue of my renamed photozine that will be available for free download every month on this site. In each one will be ten monochrome images that I have taken during the twelve months of 2017. Download issue 1 of 'A sensored View' photozine, below.
There are four images this week taken during a trip to the very photogenic county of Northumberland. All of the photographs were taken on the coast and the weather continued to give us some problems. The squally showers were intermittently thrown at us by a very strong and very cold wind. AGAINST THE … Continue reading Racing the Clouds Home
So we are now coming to the end of January. I have to say that this year, December and this month have been particularly dreary and photographically un-inspiring. Here in the UK apart from the very rare (probably a handful) of days illuminated by the winter sun it has been dark, dank, damp … Continue reading Mid-Winter Blues
All of the images this week come from a photo shoot over a couple of days on the coast in Northumbria. It was a wild and windy almost the whole time, with clouds scudding across the sky very quickly and the sun doing its best to emerge when it could. Amongst the sun and the clouds, … Continue reading Beach combing
Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive. – Elliot Irwitt As can be seen by regular visitors to my blog, 99% of my images are monochrome. When I am taking photographs, I tend to see most things in a black and white way. I have no problem in processing the images most of … Continue reading Working in monochrome
In photography, you can prepare your photo trips carefully so that you know what to expect when you get to your location. Or, you can just grab your camera, a couple of lenses, some filters and perhaps your monopod and take potluck. You can get to a location not knowing exactly what to expect but … Continue reading Harbouring thoughts.
Many years ago I used to print my own photographs in a little wet darkroom I had in a walk-in wardrobe at home. With the advent of digital, I was happy with processing the images and placing them on Flickr etc. I did get some images printed for galleries, my Royal Photographic Society submissions and … Continue reading Printing your own
This issue of view, the free photozine, is the twelfth and so concludes the first year of its publication. If you have downloaded every copy since the first then well done and thank you. Here's to the next year, 2018.
It never ceases to amaze me in this country on the variety of shots that are available in our towns. The images this month were shot on a day trip into Worcester and the three images I show here are just a sample of the various types of photographs that I obtained on that day. … Continue reading Wandering our towns.
The images in this week’s blog are from an ongoing personal project of mine. This project is called Windowlight and it is basically about just that. I photograph the patterns and effects that the light makes as it comes through the window. The only other proviso is that the window must be situated in a … Continue reading Windows in Time
You have your camera. You have your lenses. You have all the gear you need to take great photographs. So why aren’t you out there taking pictures? The answer is probably quite simple. You don’t know what to photograph! The remedy to this is also simple: start a personal photography project. WINDOWLIGHT #09 Olympus … Continue reading Start a Personal Project
Three more photographs this week from the Bradgate Park photo trip. This time as you can see I have processed them all as monochrome. LIVING ON THE EDGE Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 The first image was taken because I really liked the way that the scene was split into three distinct areas, the … Continue reading Rocks and Trees
Bradgate Park just north of Leicester is a great place for a walk and to take photographs. The three photographs this week were all taken there on a sunny April morning. THE GUARDIAN Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF18-135mm f/3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR It was also an “auspicious” outing because I took my new Fujifilm X-T1 … Continue reading An Auspicious Outing
The three images this week comprise a close-up, architecture and a minimalist style landscape. BLISTERED Fujifilm X-E2, Fujinon XF18-55mm F/2.8-4 The close-up is a metal post supporting a gate. I really liked the blistered and crumbling patina on the metal. Looking at the out-of-focus background you might be forgiven for assuming that the aperture … Continue reading All Sorts
The new edition of the free photozine view is now available for download.
I went for a walk yesterday through the very cold Warwickshire countryside. I took my Fuji X-T1, used it for the first time since June and really enjoyed it. It feels completely different from the X-Pro2 (obviously) but apart from the ergonomics of the controls for a left-eye dominant photographer it really is still a … Continue reading Out with the X-T1
The promised updates have now been released by Fujifilm for the GFX 50s, X-T20 and the X-T2. The updates for the X-T2 are listed below 1) New AF tracking algorithm for moving subject. Thanks to the newly developed image recognition algorithm, the update enhances AF-C to track moving subjects twice as fast as previous … Continue reading Fujifilm releases new updates for X-T2, GFX 50s and X-T20 cameras.
Fujinon XF18-55mm F/2.8-4 R LM OIS WARRANTED PURE Fujifilm X-E2.Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS All three of the pictures this week were taken with the amazingly versatile Fujinon XF18-55mm F/2.8-4 R LM OIS zoom. Called sometimes a “kit” lens because of its versatility, in my opinion, this is one of the best … Continue reading In praise of the all-rounder
Fujifilm has announced a software update for its range of X cameras. These are: • Fujifilm X-A1 • Fujifilm X-A2 • Fujifilm X-A3 • Fujifilm X-A10 • Fujifilm X-E1 • Fujifilm X-E2 • Fujifilm X-E2s • Fujifilm X-M1 • Fujifilm X-Pro1 • Fujifilm X-T1 • Fujifilm X-T10 The updates for these cameras are to … Continue reading Fujifilm Camera updates
I have just completed updating my website at clivemarshall.net. The site has been made by using the Adobe Portfolio web site building app. It comes as part of the Photographer’s monthly subscription package which also has Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC included. Within Adobe Portfolio there are various templates you can use to … Continue reading Updated Website
These three black and white images were shot with the Fujifilm X-E2 and the Fujinon XF 35mm F/2 lens. Being an APS-C sensor camera, the 35mm lens is equivalent to a full frame 50mm “standard” lens. The 50mm lens way back in the day of 35mm film SLR’s was the “kit” lens of its day. It … Continue reading On behalf of the 35mm or 50mm lens
What I like about using mirrorless cameras is the ability to see what your photograph will look like in the electronic viewfinder as you take the shot. By keeping an eye on the histogram at the same time you can effectively reduce the amount of time taken in processing your images afterwards, by getting as … Continue reading Seeing it how it is
The first two monochrome images make use of convergence and vanishing points. Perspective points in an image provide a very useful and powerful tool in giving the impression of depth of field in photographs. BENEATH THE SURFACE Fujifilm X-2 Fujinon XF 35mm F/2 The first photograph uses the converging lines on the underside of … Continue reading Following the lines
Edition ten of the free photozine view, issue X is now available for download.
This week, all three of the images concentrate on texture and detail. Getting in close to a subject for detail or abstract shots is an ideal way to isolate parts of the subject. In the first photograph, I wanted to really show the wonderful texture and splits in the grain of the aged wood and … Continue reading Detail and atmosphere
As photographers, we all have our favourite subjects and type of photography that we like to shoot and as creatives, we can all feel a little nervous when we are taken out of our comfort zone into a different place. I am not an urban photographer, and never have been but for this month the … Continue reading Give it a rest
I have been using NIK software for many years now. I purchased it not long after it came out and have been using it as part of my workflow ever since. I only tend to use certain modules, Color Efex Pro 4 and Sharpener 3. These are actually very important parts of my post-processing. Google … Continue reading DxO acquire NIK Collection
All of these images were taken whilst I was on a walk one afternoon. I was on a public footpath and had just climbed over a stile when I was confronted with a crop field that had been harvested. The machine had left about six inches of plant sticking out of the ground and in the … Continue reading Converging interest.
This week I have three colour photographs for you, although the third has been processed using two different split tints. The first image is a found still-life of some warty pumpkins that were sitting on a ledge in a National Trust garden. I liked the colours which stood out against the dark background of the … Continue reading Warts and all.
When I bought the Fuji X-E2 mirrorless camera, I did so thinking that it would be a great camera to stick in a small bag whenever I was just popping out to take a few quick photographs. I thought I would still use my Nikon's for most of my work, but instead, I started to … Continue reading The wind of change
I have talked about Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) before and how to go about it, and this week I have some photographs that use that technique. These were all taken on a dull day in February, so the low light level helped in getting the shutter speeds right down in order to produce the blur … Continue reading Movement in the landscape
The next issue of the free view - photozine is now available.
Following on from last weeks post I have some more images which I originally tagged as abstract, however this time I believe they actually do belong in that category. The images and their subjects are sufficiently far enough removed from their origins, that their use of, “shapes, colours, forms and gestural marks to achieve its … Continue reading Shadows and Lines
I look at other photographers images all the time. I browse their websites, I buy their books and I eagerly soak up their images. I look at their photographs with admiration, envy and I gain inspiration that I try to channel into my photographs. Every now and then I see some images that literally take … Continue reading A Thin Veil
Some close-up images today which when I first produced them and today when I pulled them out of Lightroom to use in this post I had tagged as "abstract". However looking at them after a certain period of time has passed has made me realise that they are not abstract images, but close-up photographs. I … Continue reading Correctly labelled
The first two photographs this week bring to an end the collection of winter images I have been showing over the last few weeks. I try and get out a couple or more times a week, work and other commitments allowing, and so a backlog usually builds up of processing work to be done. I … Continue reading The Last of the Winter
These monochrome pictures were all taken with one of my favourite combinations when I had my Nikon cameras: the D800 and 50mm f/1.8 G. I really enjoyed using the ubiquitous standard lens with the excellent D800. Once I had got used to the fact that rather than twisting the barrel on a zoom lens to … Continue reading Raising the standard
view issue VIII is now available for free download.
I have three colour photographs for you this week all based around a winter theme. The first is a leaf that I found in the garden after a frost. I loved the way that the frozen moisture coats the edges of the leaf. Tiny frozen droplets of moisture can also be seen on a … Continue reading Field and Frost
This week, I have some images to share taken during the winter. The scenes photographed are all close to my home - the leaf was actually taken in my garden. There is always a problem in photographing hard frost, snow or bright skies in that the camera will underexpose. It sets the light areas to … Continue reading White or grey?
The images this week are the last ones from the photo shoot that I did in Birmingham city centre. These photographs are more of an abstract nature than the previous ones. The architecture in the centre of Birmingham is awesome. There are so many stunning buildings, that it would be hard not to get a good … Continue reading Architectural inspiration
Three more images from a Birmingham city centre shoot, this time in colour. The first two photographs are of the Birmingham Library the last of buildings around the canal. I do sometimes process in colour. I just have such a difficult time in liking what I have done. I see so many excellent photographers produce … Continue reading Gold, books and reflections
The seventh edition of the black and white photography photozine view is now available for free download.
For the next couple of posts or so, I will be showing photographs taken in the centre of Birmingham. There is some fantastic modern architecture in the city as well as atmospheric older buildings that come from the city's past. Let's not forget that it is said that Birmingham has more canals than Venice. There … Continue reading Architecture in monochrome
